A section of the Apapa Wharf road Lagos shut down for the on-going reconstruction
(APAPA- LAGOS) – The ongoing rehabilitation works at the Apapa Ports road is causing an unbearable gridlock along the Apapa- Tin Can Ports Road. Maritime Operators and Stakeholders who no longer find it funny has urged the Federal Government to shut down the Apapa port completely and allow the road repairs to be carried out without interruption from vehicular traffic.
Some operators had earlier suggested that cargoes should be diverted to other ports in Nigeria but the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Ms. Hadiza Usman, said that it was not in the hands of government to relocate cargoes but it was importers that would decide where vessels carrying their cargoes should berth.
Speaking on the issue The Chairman, International Freight Forwarders Association, PTML Chapter, Sunny Nnebe, said that while it might not be in the hands of government to divert cargoes to other ports, the government however has the power to close the port and restrict access temporarily to enable the road rehabilitation to go on unhindered.
Mr. Nnebe opined that If the ports are shut completely by the government importers would move to other ports because the ports would no longer be accessed. According to him,
According to him, “There are ports in Rivers State; at Onne, ships can berth comfortably. The government should close down the (Apapa) port because the work cannot go on smoothly as long as there are tankers and trucks moving up and down the entire area and disrupting the work.”
He also suggested that the tank farms around the ports should be relocated, arguing that it would reduce the number of traffic into Apapa as many of the vehicles entering Apapa were tankers going to take delivery of petroleum products.
A stakeholder who also narrated his experience at ports also supported the closure. he revealed that importers spent over N5bn every month because of the traffic situation at the Ports.
Another stakeholder who is familiar with the port situation told our MLN correspondent that many containers are involved in the offshore business and the vessels carrying them cannot berth because the ones that berthed cannot leave.
There are many situations where containers were cleared by Customs after the complete examination were carried out on them but the containers were unable to get out of the port. Some containers sit on top of trucks for days in an attempt to get out of the port.
“If one uses $10,000 to import goods only to spend $20,000 in getting the goods out of the port, that is a loss,” he said, adding that importers were willing to move their cargoes to any other port as long as the government makes that port conducive.
The government can shut down the port. There are other ports outside Lagos and bonded terminals that are scattered all over the country with their own excise offices. Let the government close down the port so that the road repairs can be done once and for all.
